Word: shared
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...makes you realize how rare it is to see contemporary art that attempts, much less achieves, what used to be called a tragic dimension. Irony you can find in any gallery these days, as well as low comedy, puerile cool and enigma. But in a time that has its share of suffering, where is the art that tries to strike an equivalent note? What we have almost no language for anymore, at least not in painting, is acute pain. Except in room after room of this magnificent show...
When 67-year-old Gary Furbee and his wife Rose decided to go shopping for a time-share vacation home in Hawaii, they couldn't believe the bargains. The couple had rented a two-bedroom ocean-view penthouse unit at Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club on Oahu in 2007, liked it and resolved to watch for resales. The Furbees thought the recession might flush out some distressed sellers, but they were stunned by how far prices had plunged. "At Marriott, it was [listed] for between $50,000 and $60,000, but we paid $18,400," Gary says. He bought...
...Furbees have company. Sales in the once recession-proof vacation-time-share sector have plummeted, and inventory has surged to new highs over the past six months. "It is a buying opportunity," says Mark Lunt, principal of real estate and hospitality transaction advisory services at Ernst & Young. "People are demanding lower prices, and sales folks are slashing prices [by] double digits and offering incentives...
...industry's woes are twofold. First, developers are having a hard time selling new units because of the glut in resales. At the same time, the seized-up credit markets are making it difficult for developers to securitize loans they provide buyers. Defaults on time-share loans climbed to 12% in March from 8% at the end of 2008, which has spooked lenders. This means developers lack cash to lend...
...recipe for swift price correction. "What's surprising is how rapid the decline has been," says Scott Berman, U.S. leader of hospitality and leisure consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Even time-shares at top lodging companies are taking hits: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide reported a 48% decline in revenues from its vacation-ownership business in the fourth quarter, with the average price per unit plunging 31%. Similarly, Marriott International posted a 32% revenue drop in time-share sales. David Loeb, a senior analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., sees more pain ahead. He projects Starwood's vacation-ownership sales revenues to fall...